There are two more data to help us to fix the year of Herod's death : the eclipse of the moon which preceded his last illness (Ant. XVII. vi. 4), and the Passover which followed soon after (XVII. ix. 3). The lunar eclipses visible in Palestine dur- ing B.C. 5-3 were those of March 23 B.C. 5, Sept. 15 B.C. 5, March 12 B.C. 4. As it is quite possible that the final scene of Herod's life and his obse- quies did not cover more than one month, we might, with Ideler and Wurm, fix on the eclipse of March 12 B.C. 4 (Wieseler, Chron. Syn. p. 56), which is also indicated by the Passover that im- mediately followed. B.C. 4, Herod's death, would therefore be the terminus ad quern of the Nativity. But how long before B.C. 4 Jesus was born cannot decisively be said. The age of the Innocents, dir6 SiETous Kal KaraT^po} (Mt 2'*), would give B.C. 6 as the superior limit and B.C. 5 as the inferior, as this clause is qualitied by the diligent investigation of Herod (/tori rby XP^""" 8" riKpl^oKTe irapa rdv fiayuv). This massacre, quite in keeping with the growing cruelty and suspicion of Herod, who had recently procured the murder of his two sons, Alexander and Aristobulus, was secretly carried out and seemingly of small extent, not being mentioned by Josephus, and being apparently limited to children to whom the star which the Magi saw in the east, at least six months before, might have reference. Although Mt 2'i rd -n-aiSioy does not suggest an infant babe, the stay of the Holy Family in Beth- lehem, where the Magi found them, cannot have been long, the presentation in the Temple follow- ing 40 days after the Nativity. B.C. 6-5 would then be approximately the date of the Nativity.
* Chronology '), for the appearance of a striking sidereal pheno- menon between the years B.C. 7 and B.C. 4 has been proved by Kepler and verified by Ideler and Pritchard. Kepler suggested that a conjunction of Saturn and .Jupiter in the zodiacal sign of " Pisces, similar to that which took place in Dec. 1603, took
But this would 1
tor
appeared then. The Chinese tables mention such an .appear- ance in B.C. 4. Edersheim (Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah) suggests that the conjunction in e.c. 7 first aroused the attention of the Magi, and that the evanescent star of B.C. 4 stood over Bethlehem. TNvo Jewish traditions, one that the star of the Messiah should be seen two years before His birth, and the other that the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Pisces portended something of importance for the Jewish nation, might be mentioned. The former is found in the Mid- rashim, the latter in Abarbanel's Com, on Daniel (15th cent.). While no theory could be established on such a basis as this appearance, yet it may support a theory founded on more certain data. If the coming of the Magi took place shortl.v after the death of Herod's sons Alexander and Aristobulus (B.C. 7) and the mission of Antipater, his heir, to Rome (B.C. 6), their question, 'Where is he that is born king of the Jews?' would, indeed, be startling to Herod.
(b) The enrolment under Quirinius (Lk 2- aurri rj airoypa4>T] irpdm] iyevero i}yefiove{tovTOi ttjs 2,vpiai Kvp-qvlov, ' this enrolment took place for the lirst time when Quirinius was governor of Syria' ; cf. ore TTpCyrov iKfKevaav dTroypa(pa.s yeviaBai. [Strom, i. 147]). A Roman census took place in A.D. 6, after the deposition of Archelaus, and caused the revolt of Judas of Gamala (Ant. XVIII. i. 1), who in con- sequence became the founder of the Zealot party, which resisted Gentile taxation and authority. This taxing (XVIII. ii. 1) was concluded in the 37th year of Csesar's victory at Actium (A.D. 7). To this enrolment the author of Ac 5'^ refers. But it cannot be the enrolment of Lk 2^. And Josephus should not be accused of having ascribed to A.D. 7 what took place in B.C. 6-5, as the census he mentions was made after and in consequence of the removal of Archelaus. Mommsen and Zumpt sug- gest that Quirinius held office twice in Syria. And his, indeed, might be the name wanting in a muti- lated inscription, describing an official who was twice governor of Syria under Augustus. But Saturninus was governor B.C. 9-7, and Varus B.C. 7-4, being in power after Herod's death ; so that no place can be found for the rule of Quirinius before B.C. 4, the terminus ad qnem of our Lord's birth. He may have come, B.C. 3-2, and completed a census begun by his predecessor. And there is also the possibility of his having received an extraordinary military command by the side of Varus. T\\iA nnals of Tacitus (ii. 30, iii. 22, 48) describe him as a keen and zealous soldier (impiger militicc et acribus mini- steriis), who had obtained a triumph for having stormed some fortresses of the Homonadenses in Cilicia, but who was distinctly unpojjular on account of his friendship with Tiberius, his sordid life and ' dangerous old age.' Such an officer would have been a most useful agent for Augustus in preparing the document called by Suetonius (Aug. 28) the rationarium imperii, which contained a full description of the 'subject kingdoms, pro- vinces, taxes direct and indirect ' (regna,provincice, tributa aut vcetigalia, Tac. Ann. i. 11), made out by the emperor himself, especially as Varus was slack, and inclined to favour Archelaus. Certain riots mentioned in Josephus (Ant. xvii. ii. 4), in which the Pharisees appear, may have been due to the census. Justin Martyr (Apol. i. 34, 46; Dial, c. Tryph. 78) ajipeals to the aTroypa4>ai made in the time of Quirinius, whom he styles ' the first ivi- TpoTi-o! or procurator in Juda>a.' For until Palestine became a Roman province in A.D. 6 there could be no procurator in the strict sense of the term. Previous to that, if Q. did hold office, it would be as a military officer of Syria, and so he might be well described by the vague ■qye/xofevoi'TO!, altliough the word is also applied (Lk 3') to Pilate, whom Tacitus styled procurator (Ann. xv. 44). With reg:ard to the census, of which no mention is made in con- temporary history, it is to be noted that there is evidence that periodic enrolments, diroypacpai, were